Examination Syllabi for 1St Class and 2Nd Class Radio- Electronics Certificates for the Gmdss System
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ERC REPORT 24 European Radiocommunications Committee (ERC) within the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) EXAMINATION SYLLABI FOR 1ST CLASS AND 2ND CLASS RADIO- ELECTRONICS CERTIFICATES FOR THE GMDSS SYSTEM Nicosia, March 1994 Copyright 1994 the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) ERC REPORT 24 Page 1 EXAMINATION SYLLABI FOR 1ST CLASS AND 2ND CLASS RADIO-ELECTRONICS CERTIFICATES FOR THE GMDSS SYSTEM The start of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) in February 1992 has made it necessary to harmonise the examination requirements for certificates of maritime radio operators. Article 55 of the ITU Radio Regulations specifies the conditions governing the issue of GMDSS certificates for the personnel of ship stations and ship earth stations, and Article 56 also requires Administrations to ensure that the personnel of ship stations and ship earth stations operating in accordance with the GMDSS are adequately qualified to enable efficient operation of the station. Provisions of the GMDSS, closely related to the Maritime Mobile Service and the Maritime Mobile-Satellite Service, are also given in IMO Conventions, notably the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW) also regulates the conditions for the issue of GMDSS certificates. The GMDSS is to be fully implemented by February 1999 for vessels subject to SOLAS. Harmonised examination procedures for the General Operator's Certificate (GOC) and Restricted Operator's Certificate (ROC) have already been introduced for maritime radio operators performing radiocommunication duties on board vessels subject to SOLAS under ERC Recommendation 31-03. The syllabi contained in Recommendation 31-03 was created in close cooperation with IMO secretariat. The IMO Sub-Committee on Standards, Training and Watch keeping (STW) has agreed to consider, in its comprehensive review of the STCW Convention, whether the STCW Regulations, instead of cross-referencing in Chapter IV to certificates issued in accordance with the Radio Regulations, should contain all the knowledge and training requirements for the issue of radio certificates rather than, as at present, only the additional safety requirements. The STW Sub-Committee has already agreed that the CEPT GOC and ROC examination syllabi should be broadened into international standards by using them as a basis for the development of GMDSS model training courses. The CEPT arrangements for issuing GMDSS certificates to holders of non-GMDSS certificates were also used as the basis of the IMO Assembly Resolution A.769(18) of November 1993. Several countries reported their preference to have a radio electronics certificate holder on board when sailing in sea areas A3/4 instead of using one of the additional alternatives of equipment duplication or shore based maintenance. They felt that communications duties in A3/4 areas needed the skills of a radio-electronics certificate. Other countries noted the difficulties that had been experienced with trying to define standards for shore-based maintenance companies and that similar qualifications could be useful for shore based maintenance personnel. The 39th meeting of the IMO Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications had also called for repair and installation personnel to be better trained in order to reduce the excessive number of false alerts - many of which turn out to be associated with servicing and installation tests. The IMO secretariat requested the work to be extended to examination syllabi for GMDSS Certificates to include the 1st and 2nd Class Radio-electronics Certificates in the hope that a generic family of syllabi could be produced in the CEPT format. The intention was that syllabi for all four GMDSS Certificates defined in the Radio Regulations would form the basis of IMO Model Courses and would be linked with the revision of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW). This report describes the examination syllabi for the issue of 1st Class and 2nd Class Radio-electronics Certificates. Since these syllabi are of interest only to a small number of CEPT administrations, they are presented in the form of a report instead of a recommendation. The syllabus for 1st class Radio-electronics Certificate is in annex 1. The syllabus for 2nd class Radio-electronics Certificate is in annex 2. ERC REPORT 24 Page 2 Left blank ERC REPORT 24 Page 3 ANNEX 1 EXAMINATION SYLLABUS FOR THE 1st CLASS RADIOELECTRONICS CERTIFICATE FOR THE MARITIME MOBILE SERVICE AND THE MARITIME MOBILE-SATELLITE SERVICE The examination should consist of theoretical and practical tests and should include at least: A. DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE MARITIME MOBILE SERVICE AND THE MARITIME MOBI- LE-SATELLITE SERVICE A1. The principles and features of the maritime mobile service A2. The principles and features of the maritime mobile-satellite service B. DETAILED THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITY TO USE THE BASIC EQUIPMENT OF A SHIP STATION B1. Principles of electricity and theory of radio and electronics relevant to GMDSS communications and ancillary equipment B2. Use in practice the basic equipment of a ship station B3. Digital Selective Calling (DSC) B4. General principles of Narrow Band Direct Printing (NBDP) and Telex Over Radio (TOR) systems. Use maritime NBDP and TOR equipment in practice B5. Usage of INMARSAT systems. Use INMARSAT equipment or simulator in practice C. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES IN THE GMDSS AND DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE OPERA- TION OF THE GMDSS AND SUBSYSTEMS C1. Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) C2. INMARSAT C3. Marine Safety Information (MSI) and Navtex C4. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) C5. Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART) C6. Distress, urgency and safety communication procedures in the GMDSS C7. Search and rescue (SAR) operation D. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF SHIP STATION RADIO NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT D1. Basic knowledge of navigational techniques D2. General principles and functions of Radar systems D3. General principles and functions of navigational aids E. PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES AND ABILITY TO MAINTAIN SHIP STATION EQUIPMENT IN SERVICE E1. Practical knowledge necessary for carrying out preventive maintenance procedures on ship station communication and radionavigation equipment E2. Detailed practical knowledge necessary for locating faults in ship station communication and radionavigation equipment E3. Detailed practical knowledge necessary for effecting repairs on ship station communication and radionavigation equipment E4. Preparation of technical records and reports concerning repair and maintenance of radio communication and radionavigation equipment ERC REPORT 24 Page 4 F. MISCELLANEOUS SKILLS AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR GENERAL COMMUNICA- TIONS F1. Ability to use English language, both written and spoken, for the satisfactory exchange of communications relevant to the safety of life at sea F2. Obligatory procedures and practices F3. Practical and theoretical knowledge of general communication procedures F4. Telephone systems F5. General awareness of Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) ERC REPORT 24 Page 5 EXAMINATION SYLLABUS GUIDELINES FOR THE 1st CLASS RADIOELECTRONICS CERTIFICATE A. DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE MARITIME MOBILE SERVICE AND THE MARITIME MOBI- LE-SATELLITE SERVICE A1. The principles and features of the maritime mobile service 1.1 Types of communication in the maritime mobile service - Distress, urgency and safety communications - Public correspondence - Port operations service - Ship movement service - Intership communication - On-board communications 1.2 Types of station in the maritime mobile service - Ship stations - Coast stations - Pilot stations, port stations etc. - Aircraft stations - Maritime rescue coordination centre MRCC 1.3 Detailed knowledge of frequencies and frequency bands - The concept of frequency - The equivalence between frequency and wavelength - The unit of frequency: Hz, kHz, MHz, GHz. - The subdivision of the most significant part of the radio spectrum: MF, HF, VHF, UHF, SHF 1.4 Characteristics of frequencies - Different propagation mechanisms - Free space - Ground wave - Ionospheric propagation - Tropospheric propagation - Abnormal propagation - Propagation on MF frequencies - Propagation on different HF frequency bands - Propagation on VHF and UHF frequencies 1.5 Communication theory - Modulation - Amplitude Modulation - Frequency Modulation - Frequency Shift Keying - Pulse Modulation - Comparison of modulation technique - Effect of under or over modulation -Noise - White Noise - Nyquist (thermal) noise - 1/f noise - Sources of Noise - Stray pickup - Electromagnetic Compatibility - Noise figure and noise temperature - Information content - Continuous systems - Discrete systems ERC REPORT 24 Page 6 - Radiocommunication link budget - Transmission losses - Channel capacity and bandwidth - Signal-to-noise criteria - Radar systems - The concept of Radio Detection And Ranging - Propagation and the Radar range equation - Doppler radar 1.6 The various modes of communication - DSC - Radio telephony -NBDP - Facsimile - Data - Morse telegraphy (Knowledge of system only, no speed requirement) - Classes of emission - Carrier frequency and assigned frequency - Bandwidth of different emissions - Official designations of emission (e.g. F1B, J3E, A3E, A1A etc.) - Unofficial